A U.S. appeals court on Thursday lifted an injunction that blocked a Mississippi law allowing businesses and government employees to deny services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people by citing religious beliefs.
USA TODAY

Rob Hill, State Director for Human Rights Campaign, speaks on the steps of the Capitol in downtown Jackson.(Photo: Elijah Baylis, The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger)

JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi’s controversial religious objection bill, which has drawn harsh criticism from the LGBT community and others, is now in effect, thanks to an appeals court.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that that ministers, LGBT activists and others bringing the lawsuit lacked the standing to bring the litigation challenging House Bill 1523.

In 2016, the Mississippi Legislature passed the “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act," better known as HB 1523, authored by House Speaker Philip Gunn. A reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide, the Mississippi bill seeks to protect by law the belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman and prevents government intervention when churches or businesses act "based upon or in a manner consistent with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction."

The measure drew protests and rallies at the state Capitol and criticism nationwide as supporting discrimination against gay people and others in the name of religion.

Last year, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves of Jackson concluded that HB 1523 does not, despite its name, honor the nation's tradition of religious freedom. The law has never been enforced.

Mississippi civil rights attorney Robert McDuff, the Mississippi Center for Justice and Lambda Legal brought the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs and say they plan to appeal.

“We believe the Fifth Circuit panel is wrong and intend to seek further review, perhaps from the full Fifth Circuit and definitely from the United States Supreme Court,” McDuff said. “People should not have to live through discrimination in order to challenge this obviously unconstitutional bill. Even though the injunction has been reversed for now, I am pleased that we were able to stop the bill from being implemented thus far. Hopefully, our efforts to seek further review will prevent it from going into effect in the future.”

Gov. Phil Bryant, who had supported and signed the bill before the court halted it, said: "As I have said all along, the legislation is not meant to discriminate against anyone, but simply prevents government interference with the constitutional right to exercise sincerely held beliefs."